Category Archives: Ethiopia

Al Shabaab of Somalia and the entire horn of Africa is one of the deadliest Jihadist organizations in the world. They do not get as much scrutiny as they should because of the primary location of their operations, but it should be noted that Al Shabaab members have been arrested and convicted in Maine, Minnesota and California over the years.

They are perhaps most infamous for their bloody massacre of shoppers at a mall in Nairobi, Kenya a few years ago.

Terror Trends Bulletin has covered Al Shabaab for several years now. Here is our archive of Al Shabaab articles dating back to 2010:

While African countries in the region have stepped up operations against Al Shabaab in recent months, the Jihadist group remains a persistent and dangerous threat as reported by the excellent Long War Journal:

Shabaab continues to remain a persistent threat despite being pushed out of its major urban strongholds of Mogadishu, Kismayo, and other large cities and towns in southern and central Somalia. It still controls large rural areas in southern Somalia, and uses these safe havens to launch large-scale assaults in the country, even with a major African Union mission present. Shabaab has also increasingly been able to mount attacks across the border into neighboring Kenya.

Here is a graphical depiction of Al Shabaab attacks in Somalia, showing just how active the Jihadist group has been. Note the attacks in neighboring Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti:

Readers may recall from our article on David Cameron last week that the UK is sending 70 British army advisers to Somalia to battle against Jihad there. Al Shabaab is well aware of the plan and has threatened to behead any captured British troops.

We wish the British troops happy hunting and know that Somali Jihadi barbarians are no match for them on the battlefield:

Jihad is inherently expansionist and aggressive. Apologists in the West who try to sell the bill of goods like “the Taliban are only interested in Afghanistan,” or “HAMAS only wants ‘their’ land…or Al Shabaab is only targeting Somalia, simply have no idea what they’re talking about.

Al Shabaab, for instance, has targeted Kenya and Uganda in the past and now they are evidently targeting Ethiopia:

Somali Islamist insurgents are plotting to attack an upmarket area of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, the US embassy has warned, in a notice to citizens to avoid crowded areas.

The exact target is not known but the embassy said the “potential imminent terrorist attack” threatened the busy Bole district, which includes the capital’s international airport and several diplomatic missions. “The embassy has received threat reports of Al Shabaab’s intent to target the Bole area,” said the notice to citizens released Tuesday.

“Restaurants, hotels, bars, places of worship, supermarkets, and shopping malls in the Bole area should be avoided until further notice, because they are possible targets.”